Sci-fi epic Mad Max: Fury Road has moved ahead of the pack in the race for the 2016 Critics’ Choice awards, after scoring 13 nominations, way ahead of its nearest challengers.

George Miller’s futuristic tale, one of the best reviewed films of 2015, got nods for best film, best director, best actress (Charlize Theron) and best cinematography. It is also in the running in a number of technical categories, including visual effects, production design, hair and makeup, editing and costume design, as well as in non-traditional categories such as best actress in an action movie (Theron again) and best actor in an action movie (Tom Hardy).

Mad Max: Fury Road eyes Oscars run after victory at National Board of Review awards

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Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a frontiersman left for dead in 1820s North America, got nine nominations, including best film, best director and best actor (DiCaprio), while Todd Haynes’s lesbian romance Carol and Ridley Scott’s space thriller The Martian also took nine nods each. Quentin Tarantino’s western The Hateful Eight was the next best-placed film, with six nominations, including best supporting actress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), best original screenplay and best cinematography (for Robert Richardson).

The Critics’ Choice awards are considered a decent bellwether for Oscars success. Last year, voters picked the same winners for the best actress (Still Alice’s Julianne Moore), best supporting actress (Boyhood’s Patricia Arquette) and best supporting actor (Whiplash’s JK Simmons) prizes as the Academy, but also handed prizes to Birdman’s Michael Keaton (best actor), Boyhood (best film) and the latter’s Richard Linklater (best director), all of whom went on to miss out at the Oscars.

The 21st Critics’ Choice awards will be held on 17 January. The Oscars are on 28 February at the Dolby theatre in Los Angeles.